One Medivacked After Early Morning Crash Near Petrolia
A minivan struck a tree this morning near Petrolia. [Image from Chief Chris Gilda]
Petrolia Fire Chief Chris Gilda said, “Petrolia Fire was toned out to a motor vehicle accident in the 1500 block of Lighthouse Road.”
Firefighters learned the injured occupants had walked to a nearby residence so they responded there instead. Firefighters located two patients with head wounds.
CHP later reported the vehicle had major front-end damage;
An air ambulance was requested but declined due to weather. Gilda then called for another helicopter to respond.
“I requested the Coast Guard,” he told us. “They accepted and flew a patient from Petrolia to St Joe’s.”
Emergency personnel transfer patient from City Ambulance to Coast Guard for a medivac from Petrolia after early morning crash. [Image from Chief Chris Gilda]
The scene was cleared at about 5 a.m., Gilda said.
After the transfer, volunteers returned to the station to clean and restock equipment before becoming available for the next call.
As is frequently the issue in rural areas, other situation can complicate the response. “I guess one more piece to add into it is, during this whole scene, the power went out,” he said.
“But yeah, the call doesn’t stop then, and the work doesn’t stop until you are available again to respond again,” Gilda said.
Gilda also noted the department’s aging backup generator recently failed.
“Our backup generator died. It was, it was an old generator that had been donated to us by the sheriff…in 1993 when the [Petrolia Fire hall] was built, and it was old then,” he said. This January it gave up the ghost. That meant they had to finish cleanup work while struggling to replace the lights normally supplied by PG&E.
Though this added to the burden that the volunteers already deal with, the Petrolia crew finished and are back available for any other issues the storm throws at them.
The extent of the patients’ injuries has not been released.
Petrolia Fire, City Ambulance, the Coast Guard, and CHP all responded.
Please remember that information gathered from initial reports is subject to revision as more facts become available.
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Thanks to all the Volunteers for their work. Consider donating to Petrolia Fire or to your local VFD that answers the call near you:
ALDERPOINT FIRE
POB 164
ALDERPOINT, CA 95511
BELL SPRINGS FIRE DEPARTMENT
PO Box 866
Laytonville, CA 95454
BLUE LAKE FIRE
PO Box 245
Blue Lake, CA 95525
BRICELAND FIRE
POB 1249
REDWAY, 95560.
BRIDGEVILLE FIRE
P.O. Box 4
Bridgeville, CA 95526
CARLOTTA FIRE
PO Box 33
Carlotta, CA 95528
COFFEE CREEK FIRE
HC 2 Box 3951
Trinity Center, CA, 96091
DOWN RIVER VFD
140 Fire House Rd
Big Bar, CA 96010
FERNDALE FIRE
PO Box 485
Ferndale Ca. 95536
FIELDBROOK FIRE
4584 Fieldbrook Rd.
Fieldbrook, CA. 95519
FORTUNA FIRE
320 S. Fortuna Blvd.
Fortuna, CA 95540
FRUITLAND RIDGE FIRE
POB 87
Myers Flat 95554
Douglas City Volunteer Fire Department
PO Box 10
Douglas City, CA 96024
Phone: (530) 623-5110
GARBERVILLE FIRE
PO Box 288
Garberville, CA 95542
GASQUET FIRE Department
PO Box 85
Gasquet, CA 95543
HAWKINS BAR VFD
PO Box 485
Salyer, CA 95563
HAYFORK VFD
195 Hyampom Rd
Hayfork, CA 96041
HONEYDEW FIRE
P.O. Box 74
Honeydew, CA, 95545
HOOPA FIRE and Office of Emergency Services
P.O. Box 369
11121 HWY 96
Hoopa, CA, 95546
HYAMPOM FIRE
22509 Hyampom Rd.
Hyampom, CA 96046
HYDESVILLE FIRE
3494 CA 36
Hydesville, CA 95547
JUNCTION CITY FIRE
PO Box 418
Junction City, CA 96048
KNEELAND FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT
6201 Greenwood Heights Drive.
Kneeland, CA. 95549
https://www.kneelandfire.org/i-want-to/support-the-department
KETTENPOM ZENIA VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT
Po Box 101
Zenia, CA 95595
LAYTONVILLE FIRE
44950 Willis Ave
Laytonville Ca 95454
LEGGETT FIRE
P.O. Box 191
Leggett ca 95585
Lewiston Fire Department
PO Box 113
Lewiston, CA 96052
Phone: (530) 778-3711
LOLETA FIRE
567 Park St.
Loleta, Ca. 95551
(707) 733-5407
MIRANDA FIRE
POB 160
Miranda, Ca 95553
MYERS FLAT FIRE
PO Box 131
Myers Flat, CA 95554
ORLEANS FIRE
38162 Highway 96
(PO Box 312)
Orleans, CA 95556
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ORICK FIRE
PO Box 96
Orick, CA 95555
PALO VERDE FIRE
P O Box 1381,
Redway, Ca 95560
PETROLIA FIRE
(Donate online)
98 Sherman Street.
P.O. Box 169
Petrolia, CA 95558-0169
PHILLIPSVILLE FIRE
PO Box 39
Phillipsville, CA 95559
PIERCY FIRE
80401 Highway 271/ PO Box 206
Piercy, CA, 95587
POST MOUNTAIN FIRE
PO Box 1026
Hayfork, CA 96041
REDCREST FIRE
PO Box 27
Redcrest, CA 95569
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PO Box 695
REDWAY, CA 95560
RIO DELL FIRE
50 West Center St.
Rio Dell, CA 95562
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PO Box 662
Miranda, CA 95553
Salyer Volunteer Fire Department
PO Box 235
Salyer, CA 95563
Phone: (530) 629-2778
Samoa Fire
1982 Gass St
Samoa, CA 95564
SCOTIA FIRE
PO Box 185
Scotia, CA 95565
SHELTER COVE FIRE
9126 Shelter Cove Road
Whitethorn, CA 95589
SPROWEL CREEK FIRE
PO Box 2122
Redway, CA 95560
SOUTHERN TRINITY VFD, (a bi-county organization serving both eastern Humboldt and Southern Trinity)
P.O. Box 16
Mad River, Ca 95552
SOUTHERN TRINITY AREA RESCUE (STAR), a bi-county EMS/volunteer ambulance service
321 Van Duzen Rd
Bridgeville Ca 95526
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PO Box 1152
Redway, CA 95560
TRINITY CENTER VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT
PO Box 191
Trinity Center, CA 96091
Phone: (530) 266-3420
Weaverville Fire Department
PO Box 447
Weaverville, CA 96093
Phone: (530) 623-6156
WESTHAVEN FIRE Department
PO Box 2143,
Trinidad, CA, CA 95570
WHALE GULCH FIRE
76850B Usal Road
Whitethorn, CA 95589
WHITETHORN FIRE
PO Box 485
Whitethorn, CA 95589
WILLITS VFD
74 E. Commercial St
Willits, CA 95490
WILLOW CREEK FIRE
P.O. Box 51
Willow Creek, CA 95573
I truly hope the two folks in that minivan that were medivacked out thanks to Petrolia Fire, and our great men and women of the Coast Guard will be ok. I am not sure what AirMed chopper was called, but refusing to fly seems to be their answer for everything. The Coast Guard trains for these types of missions, and nothing seems to stand in their way when called for help! God Bless them!
Great work! If you have the means, please donate to your local volunteer fire department.🔥🚒👩🚒
IMHO:
>”An air ambulance was requested but declined due to weather. Gilda then called for another helicopter to respond.
“I requested the Coast Guard,” he told us. “They accepted and flew a patient from Petrolia to St Joe’s.”
Coast Guard responds when the others won’t.
Tip of the hat to those folks.
I think that department deserves some new backup power
I agree!!
What size KW backup generator do they need…???
Petrolia Fire Department had a 25Kw diesel generator and something about that same size would be a great replacement
Coast guard was like: “horrible weather and possible snow? Hell yeah we will fly that! Great training!”
OK, you pay for a service and service is denied when you need it.
299, you are exactly right. I dropped my membership with one company that kept raising their rates and providing less and less service. You have to really be careful before you pick a company. They have more rules and regulations than you could possibly understand unless you were an attorney. These companies could take some lessons from our men and women of the Coast Guard!